Curing hepatitis C infection moderately reduces portal hypertension, but has less impact for people with more severe liver stiffness due to fibrosis, Spanish researchers reported at the 2016 AASLD Liver Meeting this month in Boston.

HIV coinfection is not associated with accelerated progression of liver fibrosis in people with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, according to U.S. research published in the October 15 edition of the Journal of Infectious Diseases. Factors linked with fibrosis progression were low fibrosis stage at baseline and flares in alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels.

Drinking coffee was associated with lower liver stiffness -- a non-invasive measure used to estimate liver fibrosis -- in people with hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), researchers reported at the 2015 AASLD Liver Meeting last week in San Francisco. The study also showed a trend toward less liver fat build-up in people with NAFLD.